The Beast Below
by Super Paper
Summary: Maybe she was the size of a city. Maybe in a previous life, she had been a honorable creature and mentor to royalty. That didn't take away that she was a being with feelings. Unknown to others, it's hard being an eldritch monster dumped on a planet you don't know, with memories that aren't yours. It's hard and nobody understands. A story about Gl'bgolyb's post-scratch clone.


She did not need to be reminded that she was just one of many. Her brothers and sisters called out every moment of every day. They were echoing thoughts and feelings in her head. Feelings she didn't understand. They weren't hers to feel. To her, it was as if she'd stolen them. And yet, floating through ice-water seas she was experiencing them. On the lands above, her not-daughter would conquer the pityful race. Enslave them and slaughter them. She saw that outcome already as if it had happened. As if that outcome was happening before her very eyes. And she'd sing it. At first, soft whispers. She'd seen many slaughters. She'd seen thousands of trolls meet their untimely demise at the hands of her not-daughter. That was what the mind that her siblings were indoctrinating her with had seen. But she recognized those memories as real and if her siblings wanted her to furfill the rile of one already-dead, she would humour them for the time being. It felt so unfamiliar. The waters were colder. The sun was dimmer.

In her 'memories' she saw many voices. Entire psyches being folded inside out inside her mind and hundreds of voices screaming agony in a terrifying hell-choir. She could see nothing here. Bored and blinded at the same time she could only wander. On the rarest of occasions, she'd hear a weak voice. She couldn't decide whether the lack of psychic abilities in humans was a good thing or a bad thing. Would she pick the painful screeches over the whispers and prophecies being forced into her mind with nothing to distract her?

If only they'd leave her alone. To no longer be forced to think., that'd be nice. What was life worth when you were enslaved by the people who once called family someone just like you? Weren't you their family, too? Her long tendrils finally moved. Perhaps hours had passed, perhaps months. Time could be so easy to lose track of when it was so simple and regular. So boring. She had to move on. To at least give her time here some meaning before she was required to fulfill any role in their games of power again. Once she started swimming, she did not look back. The wildlife would flee for her large body, but when hunger-pains pricked her stomach her agile tentacles would wrap themselves around prey before they could move a fin.

Far away, land was visible. A destination. Above in the clouded-over sky, a red ship floated. Her not-daughter's nest. It was a while since she'd seen it. The woman would not even talk to her. She was too busy enslaving the creatures of the planet, no doubt.

Another ship, in the distance.

A boat was leaving the land. It was unknown to her what the rather small ship contained, but she felt an odd need to examine it. She hadn't met many ships, which now that she was thinking about it, was really strange. Knowing the witch, she probably forbad the unworthy humans from travelling nautically. Which meant these people were... escapees. She glanced up again. The large battle-ship hadn't spotted the tiny sea-vessel. She could easily inform the Empress. Or even crush the resistence herself.

However, she realised destruction wasn't what she wanted, despite what the voices inside her head too urged her to do. They weren't her thoughts, merely her guides. She wasn't the one presented as a gift to be eternally loyal to the fuchsia-blooded princesses of Alternia. A certain determination glowed inside of her, the joy of experiencing free will and making her own decisions, even for a moment. She pitied these creatures, not ghosts of the past that her not-daughter was trying to revive. The condesce wouldn't stop her anyway. She wouldn't damage her dearest mother. And thus, against the instructions of all others, she would take the side of of these humans.

She swam closer to the small wooden vessel. Shouts of panic. The battle-ship high in the sky was flying almost directly above. They would surely be spotted if her not-daughter took only one stray glance out of the window to admire the view of her oceans. Gently, a pair of her slick white tendrils rose out of the water, folding themselves around the boat. The screams increased for a second, but quickly subsided into bewildered mutters. She waited a minute. Two minutes. Five minutes. Then the red aircraft had left them behind and she gently uncovered the ship to look inside. A man, together with an infant. Escapees of war. No, not war. One-sided slaughter. Their skin looked grey, but the color was quickly turning more saturated. A shame, it made them look sick and unhealthy. Did she dare surface? Not too much at once, she quickly decided, so as to not give them the impression she wanted to eat them. An eye, a beak and a single appendage stuck out of the water. Slowly it reached towards the infant. The larger man pulled the child behind him. The tip touched the man's chest. Her feeler slid over the fabric covering it. The vibrations of his heart sped up, out of fear, no doubt. Then it pulled back. The man still seemed paralyzed by her touch.

The tentacle waved, to greet him, or to gain his attention. The man remained motionless, but the infant smiled and waved back. It was clearly smarter than the adult. She slowly moved closer again. When he reached out and grabbed the tip of her tendril, a surge of emotion hit her, makin her flinch and pull back quickly.  
It was not fair that they would never survive on the open sea. Even if she were there to protect them and provide for them (and she felt foolish for entertaining those fantasies) they would die. Their fresh water would run out or the witch would spot them. She'd loose track of them during a storm. Were they really this desperate or this stupid that they took this chance in the first place? How many more families had tried to leave before dying anyway? Was it just out of principle? To die a free human instead of a slave? That seemed like a nice death to her. To die devoid of any shackles and to happily dissolve into the particles that made up the universe.

Oh, while she was thinking, the child and the man were drifting away again in their little boat. If she wanted, she could still crush it and choke them, the voices whispered. Pull it underwater and capture it between her jaws. To satisfy her jealousy. Or maybe she wanted to spare them a long and painful demise. However, she did not reach out, despite these thoughts plaguing her mind. They had earned the right to live by escaping from the empress' clutches. It would not have been fair to take it away from them, even if she was saving them. She really did pity these creatures.


End file.
